What Happened To My Testosterone After I Hit 40? What To Do About It

Testosterone is what makes men male. This hormone gives men big muscles, great strength, thick bones, a deep voice, and sexual drive.

As these benefits decrease past the age of 40 when testosterone levels dwindle, many men think the answer is simply increased testosterone levels.

But high testosterone levels may not be the answer to men’s health problems, especially if medication is used.

And there are precautions about the use of DHEA for low testosterone, as well.

Testosterone Cycles In Men

During the normal life span of a human, there are times when testosterone levels are high and other times when they are low.

Right after fertilization of an egg in the womb, testosterone levels are low.

Then, around one to one and a half months old in the womb, testosterone levels increase and begin causing the cells of the body to form male sex organs. This is when the prostate gland develops as well.

Testosterone levels are low when a baby is born, and are only detectable around the age of 6 months. The hormone levels then start to increase during puberty.

As a teen goes into young adulthood, testosterone levels are at their peak for life. And that’s when men feel as if they are in their prime of life.

The times that the testosterone levels are higher are times when men are more preoccupied with women, the drive to get ahead and be #1, and becoming sexually active.

When the testosterone levels are low, men are more interested in other things, such as hobbies or intellectual pursuits.

Men also take more financial risks when they have higher levels of testosterone.

But then as men begin to age, their levels of testosterone start to fall. Levels below 300 ng/dL are considered low, and the range is 300-1200 ng/dL.

Females Have Testosterone, Too

Surprisingly to some people, females also will have levels of testosterone; their levels are much lower, at 30 to 95 ng/dL.

When females have low levels, they experience a lack of libido, just as men do with low levels of testosterone.

Checking Your Level Of Testosterone May Be Revealing

Since keeping levels of testosterone high enough for men to feel as if they are at their peak in life depends on the levels of testosterone in the blood, it becomes important after the age of 30 or 40 to check these levels.

How low are they? In 2005 to 2006, researchers started reporting on their new findings: that men who were in their 50s and older had levels of testosterone that were considerably lower than what they should be. Yet no one knew why.

High Testosterone Can Be Bad

The synthetic derivatives of testosterone may be associated with side effects such as increased PSA test results, a test for prostate health; aggression, acne, oily skin, sleep apnea, and hair loss or hair thinning.

This can result from testosterone injections, gels and patches or steroid pills causing higher levels than what they should be.

Testosterone medication can even affect your children. For example, there have been cases reported where fathers taking testosterone medication who often sat young children on their laps.

The children absorbed the high levels of testosterone and began developing the signs of maleness that aren’t supposed to occur until teen years.

The big question is how to increase the testosterone levels without using testosterone supplementation, and thus without the risks.

Since testosterone is created naturally in the body from cholesterol in the testes and the adrenal gland, you can look at natural ways to increase testosterone – and not have to worry about testosterone negative side effects from very high levels.

Ways To Increase Testosterone Levels Naturally:

1. DHEA, A Natural Supplement, But Too Much Is Not Good

DHEA stands for the adrenal hormone dihydroepiandrosterone, which is one that increases testosterone levels naturally.

The body makes its own DHEA, but just like testosterone, levels of DHEA fall as we get older. About 10 to 15 mg DHEA is made by the body daily.

Increasing DHEA levels has been beneficial to heart health, the reversal of Type 2 Diabetes, banishing fatigue, and other positive benefits.

DHEA is often used for low testosterone.

A DHEA supplement can help increase testosterone levels but if levels are raised too high, then it can cause the negative side effects mentioned above.

Hormone supplementation is always kind of tricky, and too much can be just as bad as too little.

Since around the mid-1990s, DHEA for low testosterone became available over-the-counter without a prescription.

Supplements as high as 50 mg are available, but how much you need really should be discussed with a knowledgeable doctor – and your progress should be tracked.

This way, your physician may only recommend 10 mg DHEA for low testosterone as a supplement, and it will be less of a risk of developing high levels of testosterone.